David Watson Sells 7,832 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson sold 7,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $170,502.64. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 88,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,927,319.87. The trade was a 8.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $21.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.54. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $30.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.02 and its 200-day moving average is $23.56. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.18 and a beta of 0.31.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.46) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BofA upgraded APLS to Buy and cited a stronger-than-expected launch trajectory for Apellis’s newly approved kidney-disease therapy, assigning a $28 price target — a vote of confidence that implies material upside if commercial momentum continues. Apellis Raised to Buy at Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note highlights early uptake of Empaveli and argues current valuation understates its revenue potential; continued strong launch metrics could drive a re‑rating and support upside from current levels. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target (from $29 to $26) but kept an Overweight rating — a mixed signal that reduces upside expectations while leaving institutional support intact. Wells Fargo lowers price target on Apellis
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a Hold rating, a neutral stance that may temper buying interest from investors seeking stronger analyst conviction. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior insiders — including CEO Cedric Francois, CFO Timothy Sullivan, General Counsel David Watson and others — filed Form 4 sales on Jan. 20–22 (large, clustered disposals totaling many tens of thousands of shares). Even if routine (diversification or option-related), clustered executive selling typically weighs on near‑term sentiment and likely contributed to the stock decline. See CEO filing for details. CEO Cedric Francois Form 4

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on APLS. HC Wainwright cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 58,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.